Police investigate Teacher at Millbraie Highschool for filming female students in Washroom

Millbrae police are sifting through evidence today against a Mills High School teacher who allegedly confessed to videotaping girls using cameras he installed in the main bathroom at the high school.

David Lista, 35, an English teacher and student body advisor, was arrested Thursday night after police executed a search warrant on his Belmont home and uncovered what is believed to be methamphetamine and other drug paraphernalia, according to Millbrae police Sgt. John Aronis.

Police descended on his home in an effort to find corroborating evidence linked to graphic videos allegedly taken at the Millbrae high school.

According to Aronis, Lista confessed to police about his alleged role in the illegal filming.

Police began investigating Lista after a San Mateo High School District tech coordinator identified a server that was overloaded, according to district Superintendent David Miller. The tech coordinator went to the site and discovered the photos, Miller said, and immediately alerted district officials and police of the incident.

Police believe Lista installed cameras through the wall of his classroom. Miller said Lista's classroom closet area borders on the girls' bathroom.

It appears that the illicit filming took place for about a month or two, according to Aronis. The video, which appears to be of good graphic quality, is being forensically analyzed.

Lista was arrested on an unrelated drug charge and posted $10,000 bail Friday morning, according to San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Police have not turned over the illegal filming case to the district attorney's office, but Lista is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. on April 8 to answer to the unrelated felony drug possession charge.

Police have several weeks to investigate the illicit filming going on at the school before Lista appears in court, Wagstaffe said.

Once it receives the case, the district attorney's office will determine whether or not to file felony or misdemeanor charges based on what Lista was allegedly doing.

"A felony or misdemeanor depends on what he was doing. If he was simply taking pictures it is a misdemeanor charge, but if you copy it and distribute it, then it becomes a felony," Wagstaffe said.

Aronis said he anticipates that Lista will face several additional charges.

For now, students, faculty and teachers at Mills are picking up the pieces and moving on, Miller said.

"We're all shocked and saddened," Miller said. "But at the same time, this behavior does not represent the behavior from the wonderful teachers in this district."

He said he plans to "follow this through to the fullest extent of the law and the educational code. As he (Lista) has confessed to this, there is no possible way that he will ever return to this district to teach."

Miller said over the weekend the girls' bathroom where the filming allegedly took place was repainted and broken tiles were replaced.